Agile development seems to be one of the hotter topics in development today. This is notable because it does not directly involve coding or technology. Agile development is about project management.But that underscores a lot of interest I am seeing in methodology books in general (but that might just be me). At some point you realize that technology ABC really doesn't matter that much. Ruby, PHP, ASP.NET, Java -- whatever, pick one and lets get the job done. They all do the same basic things, a few of the details are different, but really, that can be learned pretty easily.
What is changes is your approach to development. Do you use source control? Are you test driven? Do you Scrum? While standing up? How important are any of those things? Why are they important?
There in lies the purpose of Practices of an Agile Developer. Why is it important to have a daily scrum -- while standing -- every day -- and why aren't there a bunch of managers there? And more importantly, what does it feel like when you are getting it right?
Have you ever released software where you feel good about it, knowing that it does what it is supposed to, and that the underlying systems all work? If you haven't, this book will help you get there.
The other beauty of this book, it talks about all of this and it is only 180 pages. That is a thing of beauty. It puts in just enough information to give the idea without belaboring the idea. There is something to be said for treating your reader like a thinking adult.
So what is this book? This is the first book that I would recommend to all software developers that contains almost no code. I also don't care if you have no interest in management -- everyone with 5 years of experience should read it (if you have less than five year, there are probably still have a book list three feet tall to plow through -- this one can wait a bit).
Official site
Amazon
Authors blog
Other books worth reading:
Code Complete 2
Framework Design Guidelines
Mythical Man Month
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